Showing posts with label Aaron Gagnon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aaron Gagnon. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Outdoor game at 2018 Memorial Cup? ... USHL adjusts roster rules ... Royals, Giants in tripleheader


F Jesse Mychan (Everett, Tri-City, 2011-13) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Ravensburg Towerstars (Germany, DEL2). This season, he had 23 goals and 14 assists in 34 games with the Colorado Eagles (ECHL). He also was pointless in five games with the San Antonio Rampage (AHL). . . .
F Aaron Gagnon (Seattle, 2001-07) has signed for the rest of this season with Bern (Switzerland, NL A). This season, with Lukko Rauma (Finland, Liiga), he had 11 goals and 15 assists in 43 games. Lukko is in last place in Liiga and Gagnon’s release was mutually agreed upon.
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 The Regina Pats’ presentation to the 2018 Memorial Cup site selection committee on Wednesday in
Toronto included a proposal for an outdoor game at Mosaic Stadium, which is to open in time for the 2017 CFL season. . . . The Pats had promised a few “wow” moments in their proposal and that was one of them. . . . “If you want to use the military analogy, it was like a machine gun burst,” Gord Kirke, the CHL’s legal counsel and chairman of that selection committee, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “It wasn’t just the outdoor game. It was other things that they suggested as well. It was sort of boom, boom, boom. (The outdoor game) was an important factor but there were a few important factors.” . . . The OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs and Oshawa Generals also made their presentations in the hopes of being selected to play host to what will be the Memorial Cup’s 100th anniversary event. . . . It’s expected that a winner will be revealed in February, perhaps during a Hockey Night in Canada telecast. . . . Harder’s story is right here.
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The Prince George Cougars have signed F Zach Bolton, who turned 16 on Jan. 15, to a WHL contract. Bolton, from North Vancouver, was a seventh-round pick in the 2016 WHL bantam draft. This season, the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder has five goals and nine assists in 22 games with the Vancouver-Northwest Giants of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. . . . Last season, he had 34 goals and 23 assists in 46 games with the North Shore Winter Club’s bantam AAA side. . . . The Cougars now have signed six of their first seven selections from the 2016 bantam draft -- forwards Keegan Craik, Edge Lambert and Bolton, defencemen Cole Beamin and Jack Michell, and G Taylor Gauthier. . . . The exception is F Jesse Mistelbacher, a sixth-round pick from Iles Des Chenes, Man.
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AHLIf there any doubt about the role the 17-team USHL wants to play in junior hockey’s picture, it ended with a few announcements earlier this week, all of them aimed at improving the calibre of play. . . . At meetings last week, the USHL board of governors decided to allow its teams to add two Canadian-born players to their 23-man rosters without having those players count as imports. At present, each team is allowed four imports; they will be able to carry six as long as the two additions are Canadians. . . . That rule will come into play next season. . . . Starting in 2018-19, an import goaltender (defined as any non-USA Hockey goaltender) will count as two imports, with a team not allowed to have more than one import goaltender on its active roster. . . . At the same time, a 20-year-old goaltender won’t count towards the USHL’s roster maximum of four 20-year-old players.
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JUST NOTES:

From the department of bizarre scheduling, the Victoria Royals (26-19-4) and Vancouver Giants (17-27-4) will meet three times in less than 48 hours this weekend. They play Friday night in Langley then Saturday and Sunday in Victoria. . . . Vancouver is 1-2-0 in the season series; Victoria is 2-0-1. . . .
From the department of bizarre scheduling, Part 2: The Royals and Giants will do it all over again on Feb. 24, 25 and 26. That series also will open in Langley and finish with a doubleheader in Victoria. . . .
F Reese Johnson is back on the ice with the Red Deer Rebels this week for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery in October. He’s wearing a yellow non-contact jersey, but he’s out there. . . . Johnson, 18, had three goals and three assists in 36 games last season. . . .
General Electric will pay the NBA’s Boston Celtics US$7 million a year to have logos on their uniform tops. Did no one tell General Electric it could have had logos on all WHL team sweaters for less than that? . . . 
The Colorado Avalanche is the latest NHL team to do away with morning skates on game days. The morning skate became a topic of conversation earlier this season when head coach John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets chose to ban them. Later, GM Jim Rutherford of the Pittsburgh Penguins called the pointless. . . . Some teams have decided that it’s more important for players to get rest than it is to go for a morning skate on the day of a game. . . . In the WHL, Kevin Constantine, the head coach of the Everett Silvertips, has said that “we’re a better team when we don’t skate in the morning and we save the energy for the game at night.”
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

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THURSDAY’S GAMES (all times local):
No Games Scheduled.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:16 PM
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Thursday, November 17, 2016

Forward returns to Silvertips . . . Update on Patrick . . . Warriors romp in Saskatoon

F Jens Meilleur (Brandon, 2010-14) has been released by the Nuremberg Ice Tigers (Germany, DEL) at his request. He was pointless in four games. This season, he had two assists in seven games while on loan to Bayreuth (Germany, DEL2) and was pointless in one game while on loan to Weiden (Germany, Oberliga).
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Jesse Geleynse of the Everett Herald tweeted Thursday that F Bradly Goethals has returned to the Everett Silvertips.
Goethals, 18, from Ile-des-Chenes, Man., was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings on Oct. 11 for a conditional seventh-round selection in the 2018 WHL bantam draft. Goethals joined the Silvertips after the trade, but left shortly afterwards for what was said to be personal reasons.
Last season, he put up 74 points, 41 of them goals, for the midget AAA Eastman Selects. He led the
Manitoba Midget Hockey League in goals and points. He also had three goals in one game with the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers and a goal and an assist in five games with the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings.
The Silvertips, of course, are the WHL’s top defensive team, but surely could use an injection of offensive talent. All Goethals has to do is buy into head coach Kevin Constantine’s structured defensive game to earn enough playing time to be able to exercise his offensive skills.
The Silvertips had their defensive game on display in Kamloops on Wednesday night and an Everett fan could make the argument that circumstances conspired against the visitors in this one.
A Kamloops fan would say that the Blazers’ goaltender was better than Everett’s in this one — not by much, but enough to win.
The Blazers, who had been terrible in a 7-0 loss to the visiting Prince George Cougars on Saturday night, were much better against Everett, but still needed superb goaltending from Connor Ingram before beating the Silvertips 2-1 in OT.
The Blazers were being outshot 22-7 when Everett scored its only goal, at 12:12 of the second period, and the edge was 27-12 going into the third period.
However, the Silvertips had played at home the night before — they beat the Calgary Hitmen, 6-1 — and got into Kamloops in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. And it started to show in the latter stages of the second period.
The Silvertips got caught running around in their zone for maybe the only time all night at 15:31 when Kamloops F Rudolfs Balcers was able to beat a stickless Carter Hart with a high shot.
The OT lasted 11 seconds and the flagging Silvertips were no match for the Blazers’ speed 3-on-3, with Balcers ending the game as he finished off a give-and-go-go with linemate Deven Sideroff.
By game’s end, the Blazers had closed the gap on the shot clock to 34-23.
Everett’s offence is averaging 3.25 goals per game, 10th-best in the WHL, while it is far and away No. 1 on defence at 1.95, with the Prince George Cougars next at 2.55.
The Silvertips (15-2-4) and Cougars (16-4-2) are tied atop the WHL’s overall standings, with the Regina Pats (15-0-3) just a point off the pace. The high-flying Pats are scoring 5.78 goals per game, almost a goal more than the Medicine Hat Tigers (4.80) and two up on the Tri-City Americans (3.81). If you’re wondering, Regina’s defence is ninth, allowing 3.17 goals per game.
If Goethals can stick around and add even a little bit to Everett’s offence, Constantine and general manager Garry Davidson will be thrilled. If not, well, the trade deadline is less than two months away.
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F Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings, the consensus No. 1 pick in the NHL’s 2017 draft, has told NHL.com that he expects to miss another two to three weeks. Patrick, who underwent sports hernia surgery in July and missed most of training camp, has played only six games this season, putting up four goals and five assists. He last played on Oct. 11. . . . "I'm skating on my own right now," Patrick told Mike Morreale of nhl.com. "I’m just starting getting back on the ice (this week) and doing edge work and skill stuff like that, but nothing too intense yet. Every day it gets a little better, so I'm hopeful. This was out of my control, and it's killing me not to be out there with my teammates." . . . Patrick still hopes to get an invitation to the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp. He likely will be on the list that Hockey Canada says will come out on Nov. 29. The selection camp is scheduled to open Dec. 11 in Blainville, Que. If Patrick isn’t back with Brandon for another three weeks, the time line would seem to be a bit tight. . . . Morreale’s story is right here.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings posted the above tweet on Thursday afternoon. We have determined that No. 6 is D Dean Kennedy, who was the captain of the Wheat Kings at the time. If you have any idea who the other player might be, drop me an email at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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The Spokane Chiefs have signed Chris Moulton to a contract through 2017-18 and named him assistant general manager, hockey operations. Moulton has been with the Chiefs since 2005 when he signed on as director of player personnel. . . . Before joining the Chiefs, he scouted with the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Chiefs also have signed Todd Daniels, their athletic trainer and conditioning coach, through 2017-18. He has been with them since 2008.
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John Tortorella, the head coach of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, suggested earlier this week that game-day skates are over-rated. . . . Mike Benton, the radio voice of the Everett Silvertips, asked head coach Kevin Constantine for his thoughts. Here’s Constantine’s answer:
“We do everything with trying to add a bit of science and study to make sure our facts are facts and not just an idea. We have found ourselves that we are much better by not skating. All the analytics and studies we’ve done we’re a better team when we don’t skate in the morning and we save the energy for the game at night.”
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Have you ever wondered how much money is to be made by playing hockey in Europe? Well, let us take a look at F Aaron Gagnon, a product of Armstrong, B.C. Gagnon, now 30, played five seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds before going on to a pro career that includes 38 NHL games — 21 with the Dallas Stars and 17 with the Winnipeg Jets. . . . Gagnon went to Europe for 2013-14 and now is into his fourth season with Lukko Rauma in the Finnish Liiga, that country’s top league.
Every October, the Finnish government publishes a list of individuals who earned at least 100,000 euros and their taxable income for the previous year as reported on their tax returns. The list that was published last month is for 2015 and Gagnon shows up as having the fourth-highest taxable income for a paid hockey player during that period.
According to the list, Gagnon earned 252,904 euros. At Thursday’s exchange rates, he made Cdn$363,300 (US$268,058).
That might be something for today’s junior/college players to ponder.
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Coaching
Mark McNaughton has stepped in as the interim general manager and head coach of the junior B Princeton Posse of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. . . . He replaces Geoff Goodman, who was fired on Wednesday. The Posse also fired associate coach Lance Vaillancourt. . . . Goodman was in his second season in Princeton. . . . McNaughton had been the Posse’s director of hockey operations.
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Concussion Report
These days, Bob McKeown is the co-host of the fifth estate, CBC-TV’s investigative show. In another life, he played for the CFL’s Ottawa Rough Riders. In fact, he played enough football during his athletic career that he writes “I happen to know something about concussions in football because . . . I’ve had a lot of them.” . . . This is scary and interesting stuff, and it’s all right here.
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THURSDAY’S GAME:


At Saskatoon, F Luka Burzan and F Noah Gregor each had two goals and an assist as the Moose Jaw Warriors skated to a 5-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Burzan, who has seven goals, gave the
Blades a 2-0 lead with goals at 18:39 of the first period and 1:40 of the second. . . . Burzan drew an assist on Gregor’s eighth goal, at 7:00 of the second, that gave the visitors a 3-0 lead. . . . F Wyatt Sloboshan (3) got the Blades to within two goals at 7:23. . . . Warriors F Jayden Halbgewachs got that one back when he scored No. 13, on a PP, at 11:39. . . . Gregor closed out the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 4:03 of the third period. . . . F Nikita Popugaev had three assists for the Warriors, with D Matt Sozanski earning two. . . . G Zach Sawchenko stopped 32 shots for the Warriors, two more than Saskatoon’s Brock Hamm. . . . The Warriors were 1-2 on the PP; the Blades were 0-4. . . . Moose Jaw (12-4-4) had lost its previous three games. . . . The Blades slid to 9-12-1. . . . F Brayden Burke was pointless in his debut with the Warriors after being acquired last week from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Blades will complete a stretch of three games in as many nights by playing in Brandon on Friday and Saturday. . . . Announced attendance: 3,302.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Vancouver at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Edmonton vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, B.C., 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Lethbridge vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:35 p.m.
Calgary at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Kamloops vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.




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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 8:33 PM
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Monday, July 14, 2014

Red Deer, Vancouver, Victoria chasing 2016 Memorial Cup tournament


Cam Hope (right), the general manager of the Victoria Royals,
talks to the media on Monday about his club's bid to play
host to the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament.
(Victoria Royals photo)








F Aaron Gagnon (Seattle, 2001-07) has signed a two-year extension with Lukko Rauma (Finland, Liiga). Last season, with HV71 Jönköping (Sweden, SHL), he had two goals and an assist in nine games. He joined Lukko in October and put up 36 points, 17 of them goals, in 48 games. . . .
D Mike Berube (Prince George, Red Deer, Vancouver, 2004-09) has signed a one-year contract with the Nottingham Panthers (England, UK Elite). Last season, with the Allen Americans (CHL), he had 22 points, including 19 assists, in 66 games. He was the team captain for the CHL champions. . . .
D Zack FitzGerald (Seattle, 2001-05) has signed a one-year contract as player-assistant coach with the Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite). Last season, he had one assist in 38 games with the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL).
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What once was thought to be a one-horse race got a whole lot more interesting on Monday.
That would be the contest to earn the right to play host to the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament, which will be played in a WHL city.
A short time ago, it was believed to be safe to book hotel rooms in Vancouver for the 2016 affair because Giants majority owner Ron Toigo has intimated on more than one occasion that they will be bidding.
But then the Red Deer Rebels expressed an interest, and considering that the Memorial Cup hasn’t been decided in Alberta since 1974, and considering that Alberta is home to five WHL franchises, well, maybe it’s time.
However, Brent Sutter, the owner/general manager and head coach of the Rebels, has said that he wants assurances from the WHL and its board of governors that the host rights will be awarded to the most deserving party and that it won’t simply be awarded based on the highest profit guarantee.
Then, on Monday, word came that the Victoria Royals are preparing a bid, and, just like that, things got really interesting.
The Royals are preparing for their fourth season in B.C.’s capital city and have made impressive strides under general manager Cam Hope, head coach Dave Lowry and director of player personnel Grant Armstrong.
This is a solid organization off the ice, and it has made huge strides on the ice, to the point where it enjoyed its first 100-point season in 2013-14.
The announcement that they will be bidding on the 2016 Memorial Cup marks them as serious players in the WHL. Yes, they are ready to run with the big dogs.
“I think we’d be crazy not to express interest for 2016,” Hope told me in an email exchange yesterday. “Victoria is a great city, with a great hockey community, a great airport, excellent hotels and amenities, and a great arena right downtown.”
Still, Hope doesn’t expect to be awarded the rights in a walk-through.
“At the same time,” he noted, “there are other places in the west that would do a very good job, and so we’ll have to see who else tosses a hat in the ring, and see where we are after that.”
If you have ever been to Victoria at that time of year, well, you know it’s got a lot going for it, especially when winter’s memory still in in the rearview mirror for parts of the country.
The bottom line of all this is that competition is good for everyone, and with three teams now in the hunt, at least in the preliminary stages, well, it’s great news for the WHL.
A winner is scheduled to be announced in October.
The 2015 Memorial Cup will be played in Quebec City, with the QMJHL’s Remparts as host team, from May 21-31.
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1. The Prince George Cougars are expected to introduce Todd Harkins as their general manager at a news conference this morning. Harkins, 45, has been the Cougars’ director of player personnel. He has been interim GM since an ownership change earlier this summer in which Dallas Thompson, the team’s long-time GM, wasn’t retained. . . . It also is expected that the Cougars’ new ownership group will announce a contract extension for head coach Mark Holick, who is preparing for his second full season in the position. Holick has two seasons left on the contract he got in January 2013 when he replaced Dean Clark. . . . Holick and Mike Hengen, the Cougars’ new assistant coach, will be in attendance at today’s news conference.

2. The Portland Winterhawks have five prospects on the Team USA roster for the U-17 Five Nations tournament that is scheduled for Crimmitschau, Germany, Aug. 13-17. . . . F Kieffer Bellows, F Hank Crone, F Mitch Mattson, D Sam Rossini and F Garrett Wait all were named to the team. . . . Bellows, from Edina, Minn., is the son of former NHLer Brian Bellows, Kieffer was a seventh-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. He played high school hockey in Edina last season and has committed to Boston U. . . . Crone, from Dallas, also has committed to Boston U. He is expected to play this season with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers. . . . Mattson, from Grand Rapids, Minn., has committed to the U of North Dakota. . . . Rossini, from Inver Grove Heights, Minn., has committed to the U of Minnesota and is expected to play this season for the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks. . . . Wait, from Edina, Minn., was selected by Portland in the eighth round of the 2013 bantam draft. He was a teammate of Bellows’ at Edina High last season. . . . The Team USA roster was selected after a week-long USA Hockey Select Festival in Williamsville, New York. . . . There’s more on the U.S. team right here.

3. With the Regina Pats searching for a head coach, Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post chose to play the Name Game. Take a look right here to see who may be in line for the Regina head-coaching position.

4. George Johnson of the Calgary Herald spent the last few weeks in Brazil covering the World Cup. As he leaves Rio, he recalls the good, the bad and the ugly, and it’s all right here.

5. FIFA showed during the World Cup that it has a long way to go in terms of keeping its players safe. For starters, it has a lot of work to do on its concussion protocol, if it even has such. John E. Hoover takes a look at FIFA and brain injuries right here.

6. With Derek Jeter poised to lead off for the AL in tonight’s All-Star Game, Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post writes: “The mystery of Derek Jeter has always been: Who’s behind the near-perfect facade, the movie-star smile and the impenetrable reserve, almost worthy of DiMaggio? How do you survive nearly 20 years in New York without any serious controversy, not a mark worth mentioning against your name?” . . . Boswell’s column is right here.

7. Sexual assaults on college campuses has come out of the shadows and turned into a huge problem. The New York Times takes a look right here at one such situation and how a college handled it. No, it isn’t pretty.

8. After The New York Times story hit the Internet and the streets, the college in question issued a news release. Of course, it tried to shoot the messenger. That news release is right here.
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 The Dallas Stars have signed D Julius Honka of the Swift Current Broncos to a three-year entry-level NHL contract. Honka, who is from Finland, was the 14th overall pick in the NHL’s 2014 draft. He had 56 points, including 16 goals, in 62 regular-season games with the Broncos last season as a freshman.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Chicago Blackhawks have added Kevin Dineen to their coaching staff as an assistant under head coach Joel Quenneville. Dineen, who was the head coach of the Canadian women’s team that won gold at the Sochi Olympics, replaces Jamie Kompon, who left to become GM/head coach of the Portland Winterhawks.
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The Detroit Red Wings now have lost two of their assistant coaches from last season. Bill Peters left earlier in the summer and now is the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. Tom Renney will be introduced today as the president of Hockey Canada, replacing Bob Nicholson. . . . Tony Granato is expected to be one of the Red Wings’ new assistant coaches. He was on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ staff last season.
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Toby Petersen has joined the Springfield Falcons as an assistant coach. The Falcons are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. . . . Petersen, 35, retired following last season when he played for the Calder Cup-winning Texas Stars, the AHL champions.
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Simon Ferguson is the new head coach of the major midget Okanagan Rockets, who play in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League and are based in Kelowna. . . . Ferguson (Lethbridge, Kelowna, 1999-2004) retired from playing after the 2012-13 season. He played nine seasons as a pro, making stops in the AHL, ECHL, Denmark and Austria. . . . Ferguson, 31, was part of a Memorial Cup championship with Kelowna (2003-04) and an AHL championship with the Hershey Bears (2009-10). . . . Ferguson takes over from Mack O’Rourke, who left for a non-hockey job in Calgary. . . . David Michaud is returning as the club’s general manager. . . . The Rockets are the defending B.C. champions. They won the Pacific Regional tournament before finishing third at the Telus Cup national championship in Moose Jaw.
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Jim Armstrong is the new head coach of the junior B North Okanagan Knights of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Armstrong takes over from Shawn Webb, who resigned in May. . . . The Knights play out of Armstrong, B.C. . . . No, Armstrong wasn’t named after Armstrong, no matter which way you look at it. . . . Roger Knox of the Vernon Morning Star has more right here.
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The Castlegar, B.C.-based Selkirk College Saints have promoted Alex Evin from assistant coach to head coach following the departure of Jeff Dubois, who now is the head coach of the junior B Creston Valley Thunder Cats of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. . . . The Saints won two straight B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League titles under Dubois. . . . Evin, 27, is from Castlegar. . . . Bob Hall of the Nelson Daily News has more right here.


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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:24 PM
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Thursday, August 8, 2013

Nikolishin to report to Silvertips

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Darrell Hay (Tri-City, 1996-2000) and F Ned Lukacevic (Spokane, Swift Current, 2001-06) each signed one-year contracts with Tohoku Free Blades Hachinohe (Japan, Asia Hockey League). . . . Last season, Hay had four goals and 16 assists in 40 games with Cortina (Italy, Serie A), while Lukacevic had no points in two games with Eispiraten Crimmitschau (Germany, 2. Bundesliga) and three goals and eight assists in 15 games with Banska Bystrica (Slovakia, Extraliga). . . .

SELF Aaron Gagnon (Seattle, 2001-07) signed a two-year contract with HV71 Jönköping (Sweden, SEL). He had three goals in 10 games with the Winnipeg Jets (NHL) and 11 goals and 13 assists in 43 games with the St. John’s Ice Caps (AHL) last season. Gagnon is due in Jönköping next week as HV71 opens its exhibition season on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at JYP Jyväskylä (Finland, SM-Liiga) — their training camp started July 29.
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F Jujhar Khaira, 19, has chosen to leave the Michigan Tech Huskies and sign with the Edmonton Oilers, who selected him in the third round of the NHL’s 2012 draft. His WHL rights are held by the Everett Silvertips, who acquired them from the Prince George Cougars. . . . Khaira, who is from Surrey, B.C., was drafted after playing for the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings. He then went to Michigan Tech. I can’t find a clause in the NHL-NHLPA CBA that covers a player drafted from junior who goes to college and then leaves early. But it is speculated that Khaira is eligible to play in the AHL this season. Should the Oilers decide he isn’t quite ready for that avenue, he could end up in Everett. . . . The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Khaira had 25 points, including six goals, in 37 games with Michigan Tech last season. In two seasons with the Spruce Kings, he had 121 points, 39 of them goals, in 112 games.
Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has more on Khaira right here. Patterson also covers the Silvertips’ import situation, starting with the news that Russian F Ivan Nikolishin is expected to show up for training camp.
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The Portland Winterhawks are going to share their 2012-13 WHL championship with their season-ticket holders.
The team revealed Wednesday that every 2013-14 season-ticket holder will be presented with “a wearable championship ring that will be an exact replica of the ring that will be given to the players and coaches for winning last season's title.” . . . The presentations to fans will made at a game during the upcoming season.
"Championships require commitment, and no one is more committed to the Portland Winterhawks than our season ticket holders. We can't think of a better way to honor them than with championship rings of their own," Winterhawks president Doug Piper said in a statement. "This will be an exclusive gift for all of our full season ticket holders, something we hope they treasure for years to come."
Any season-ticket holders who might be flying in for the ceremony will have to foot the bill themselves. Or see if a QMJHL team will help them out.
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In the world of junior hockey, where new revenue streams are getting harder and harder to find, the SJHL just may have happened upon something.
SJHLThe SJHL, under president Bill Chow, has sold the naming rights to one of its division. Yes, the Central Division, as it was called earlier this year when realignment was announced, now is the Kramer Division.
That’s because Kramer Ltd., a North Battleford-based outfit that specializes in selling farm equipment through auction, has cut a three-year deal for those naming rights.
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THE COACHING GAME:
ECHLRick Emmett is the new head coach of the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators. Emmett, an assistant coach with the Gladiators, was promoted after head coach John Wroblewski joined the AHL’s Rochester Americans as an assistant coach. . . . Emmett spent the past two seasons as an assistant under Wroblewski.
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AHLRobbie Ftorek, who spent most of five seasons as head coach of the OHL’s Erie Otters, has been hired by the NHL’s Calgary Flames to work as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat. . . . Ftorek will work alongside head coach Troy Ward with the Heat. . . . George Johnson of the Calgary Herald has more right here.
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From Larry Stone (@StoneLarry) of the Seattle Times: “Just saw an usher in the elevator lugging a bunch of brooms left behind by Jays fans hoping for a sweep.”

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 1:19 AM
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